


Terrify the Dark

by Becci Barnes (BeccEEE)



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Cuddling, Established Relationship, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:41:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25534537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeccEEE/pseuds/Becci%20Barnes
Summary: Steve had not expected to go into the ice again. But there it was, creeping up his body and torturing him. He knew, he would not survive this another time. At least not alone.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 3
Kudos: 78





	Terrify the Dark

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little idea that came to me while listening to Skillet. I highly recommend giving the song a try that is responsible for this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DJwTfhaJEY

The cold was the first thing Steve noticed. Silent as a shadow, it had sneaked up on him and crept up his body ceaselessly. A coldness so intense and all-encompassing that any warmth was sucked out of Steve within seconds. It wasn't just a fresh breeze that swept over him, the cold was harsh and merciless and penetrated down to the innermost parts of his bones. Steve began to tremble and instinctively wanted to wrap his arms protectively around himself, but none of his muscles moved. He wanted to open his eyes to face the impending danger, but his eyelids didn't even twitch. Immobile he could do nothing more than lie there in the impenetrable darkness. The ice had completely closed over him, covered him and made Steve a part of itself. He was icy, frozen and unable to move, to speak, to breathe.  
The panic that rose in Steve was unlike anything he had ever known. It cut off what little air he had left and his heart began to race. Muffled he heard the accelerating pounding and the blood rushing in his ears. Loud as a raging river it flowed through his veins and dampened his senses.

The ice around him cracked menacingly as it began to expand. It pressed against Steve's frozen body from the outside and burned cold on his bare skin. With all strength he could muster, Steve tried to fight against the cold walls around him, which were crushing him, but he still could not move. In death fear, his heart beat against his chest as if it wanted to jump out of his body. He tried to gasp for air but the ice had mercilessly covered his lips as well and threatened to suffocate him. He had to breathe! He needed air! But the ice now was in his mouth too, making its way down into his lungs and preventing him from breathing. He would die here. The ice would devour him entirely and leave him here in his icy coffin. No one would find him in his silent death struggle. He was going to die alone. Alone and lost. Buried in the ice forever. 

Steve soared up and struggled desperately for breath. Air was filling his lungs. Wonderful warm air that carried oxygen to his brain. Steve was panting like he'd just run a marathon. He breathed heavily in and out, trying to take in as much life-saving air as he could. The feeling of suffocation still hovered over him so omnipresent that he couldn't help himself. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale again. Very slowly his breath calmed down and with it his heartbeat. Steve could still feel his heart beating painfully in his chest, but it was no longer fighting for survival. He blinked. The darkness around him had not disappeared when he woke up. He could open his eyes again, but he could see nothing but deepest night. He tried to make out at least the schemes of the room he was sure were there, but he failed. The deep black environment pressed on his eyes and Steve could feel his heartbeat accelerate again. He clawed his fingers into the blanket and tried to keep breathing steadily. He was not in the ice. He hadn't been in the ice. He was in his bed in the Avengers Tower and the ice had only been a dream. It was not 1945 but 2014 and he would not die here. Like a mantra he recited these things to himself. He clung to reality in order not to feed the irrational panic that was building up inside him. It had only been a dream, only a dream. But it was the darkness, which was so much thicker than usual, that pushed Steve back to the edge of a panic attack. With trembling fingers he fumbled around on his bedside table until he found what he was looking for. When the bedside lamp illuminated the bedroom in a warm light, Steve had the feeling of being able to breathe freely again for the first time. Long, slow breaths lifted and lowered his chest. He felt weak, as if he had returned from a battle. But he had won this fight, even though he didn't feel like a winner.

"Steve, you okay?" Steve didn't turn around to the familiar voice behind him. He looked at the dark doors of the wardrobe at the other end of the room. Like in a smooth lake at sunrise, the bedside lamp cast a golden glow on the shiny black surface. Warm and soothing, the morning sun brought the end of the night. And just like the first beams of the morning sun, the warm light of the small lamp now calmed Steve down. Behind him he heard the soft rustling of the blanket and felt the mattress move. The next moment Tony had his arms wrapped around him from behind. Steve felt his back being warmed by Tony's body and felt Tony's chin digging into his shoulder. "You're freezing cold," he heard Tony's soft voice close to his ear, but he didn't answer. Steve didn't know how to respond. So they just sat there, silently and cuddled up. Steve enjoyed the wonderful warmth that emanated from Tony, slowly thawing his own body. It was that kind of warmth that only Tony could provide. It soaked into him, warmer and deeper than any fire ever could, removing the last remnants of ice from his mind and soul.

None of them knew how long they had been sitting there like that when Tony lifted his head off Steve's shoulder again. " Feel better?" Steve nodded and finally managed to turn around to Tony. The reflection of the golden light shimmered in his brown eyes and his face showed the worry he had almost banished from his voice. But now he obviously couldn't keep it to himself anymore. "I thought you didn't have nightmares anymore."  
Steve immediately averted his eyes again. "I thought so, too." He was uncomfortable admitting it. For several months his nights had been quiet. He had rarely really slept through the night, but the ice had not made it into his dreams. Until today. 

Steve felt Tony move back towards their pillows. Steve automatically followed his movements. He wanted to stay with him, to linger in the aura of his wonderful warmth that made it impossible for any ice to take hold of him. Before Steve could realise it, Tony had dragged him back into the pillows, pulled the blanket over both of them and had bedded Steve's head on his chest. As Tony gently stroked through Steve's hair with his left hand, Steve listened to the soothingly steady heartbeat under his ear and watched the Arc Reactor in front of his nose. He was so close to it that he could hear the familiar low humming that came from it. With his index finger, he gently moved his finger along the edge of the metal, which felt unusually warm. In the blue light his fingers looked paler than usual as they made another turn around the small metal cylinder. Even from this short distance, Steve couldn't see a single flicker of the bright blue light. It shone continuously, illuminated his fingers and changed the colors of the surroundings.

Steve's head flinched up and he almost hit Tony on the chin, who pulled his hand back from Steve's hairline in surprise. Steve's gaze wandered from the Arc Reactor up to Tony's face and caught the brown eyes, which now looked even darker in the blue dim light. He hadn't even noticed that Tony had turned off the night light again, that much the reactor had drawn him into its spell. Tony returned the gaze with a mixture of suspicion and curiosity, and Steve looked down again to the spot where his hand had come to a halt next to the Arc Reactor. A realisation had just come to him, but he wasn't sure how to express it best to Tony. For a few seconds he struggled for words until Tony scratched his beard almost annoyed and it broke out of Steve: "It's the Arc Reactor.“

Tony's eyes narrowed. "Yeah. I know. I built that, you remember? There was this cave and then..." Steve shook his head. He didn't want to give Tony the chance to interrupt and not let him finish, only to deliberately misunderstand. "Your Arc Reactor" he tapped it with his fingers "is the reason I can sleep at night". Tony's mocking comment, which had already been in the air, evaporated and he looked at Steve in perplexity, who immediately felt the need to explain himself further.  
"It's the light. When you're here, it's never really dark at night." Tony's puzzled expression turned into a tormented smile. "I know," he said soberly. " It took me a long time to get used to it." Steve rested his head back on Tony's chest and listened to his voice, which made the bones under his head vibrate slightly. "For the first few months, I couldn't sleep at all. " First it hurt, then it was too bright. Most of the time both at once. So at some point I just stopped trying." That was the part of the story Steve knew. They had been crossing each other's paths at sleepless nights often enough. And he also knew what had finally got Tony back to sleeping more regularly. "Ever since we started sharing a bed, my nightmares have stopped." Steve took a break to give Tony enough time to process this hidden love declaration before continuing. "But you had buried yourself in your blanket while sleeping and covered the reactor. That's why it was so much darker than normal and why the nightmares were back," said Steve."Your light terrifies the dark, figuratively and literally." 

They fell silent and Steve knew that Tony was struggling with himself in order not to dismiss the kind words cynically, as he did so often. But he had become much better at accepting these things. Finally Tony said quietly: "I haven't had a bad dream since you've been sleeping here either. And all without the need for an additional Arc Reactor." Steve grinned and he knew, even though he couldn't see his face, that Tony was grinning, too. And in that moment they both finally realised how good they were for each other and that despite all their differences they somehow belonged together.


End file.
